Last week, I was invited into the homes of Jewish New Yorkers across the city to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot. It was a pleasure to be welcomed into these sukkot, in a beautiful tradition rooted in gratitude, gathering, humility and community.

Yehonatan Ovadia – a Hasidic Jew and Israeli citizen who has lived in the U.S. on a visa since 2022 – is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (a notorious federal prison) and facing deportation … for his criticism of Israel on religious grounds. To those who have supported the Trump Administration’s weaponizing of allegations of antisemitism: Do you see how preposterous this is? Nothing here is making Jews safer, it’s just using immigration enforcement to punish people for their political views. And if you’re opposed to Ovadia’s deportation – as I hope you are – but you haven’t spoken out against Mahmoud Khalil’s or Mohsen Mahdawi’s: it’s not too late to do so. You really don’t have to agree with people to agree on this: they shouldn’t be imprisoned or deported for their political views, or for their religion. nytimes.com/2026/09/30/nyreg…

We wrote one of the definitions of antisemitism listed in @NYCMayor's Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. We're glad our definition (or any definition, for that matter) is not being codified into law. This piece sums up why. forward.com/opinion/852941/n…

The administration rolled out the plan with support from top city officials, several Jewish elected officials and liberal and progressive Jewish organizations, including the New York Jewish Agenda, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Nexus Project, New Jewish Narrative, Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, Bend the Arc and J Street’s New York City chapter.

Just a few commitments in the Mamdani administration’s newly rolled out Strategy to Combat Antisemitism: 1️⃣ $26 million annually invested in the Office to Prevent Hate Crimes, up from $3 million (nearly 9x increase in funding) — including $7.4 million to double PATH grant funding and support the physical security of vulnerable nonprofits, including synagogues. 2️⃣ $2.5 million capital investment in The Center for New Jewish Culture (a new space for Jewish cultural, community and arts events in Central Brooklyn). 3️⃣ $2 million capital investment in completing the design and construction of the Queens Holocaust Memorial. 4️⃣ Relaunching of a working group to support security for synagogues and other Jewish cultural centers. 5️⃣ Launching a campaign on the contributions of Jewish New Yorkers on LinkNYC and in other public places.

President Biden's National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism was widely praised for tackling hate on multiple fronts & it's encouraging to see the Mayor's team adapt that model into this plan to address the needs of Jewish New Yorkers. This is a strong step in the right direction.

Thank you for this important step towards combatting antisemitism in NYC, @NYCMayor. 🙏🏼

A group of longtime Jewish communal leaders and public servants have come together to form J Street’s new Jewish Communal Advisory Council. In a letter, the council members write: “J Street has become an indispensable voice and home.” They’re joining J Street to strengthen that voice across the mainstream Jewish community and to build a future rooted in democracy, peace and Jewish values. Read their letter, and meet the inaugural council members: jstreetdotorg.substack.com/p…

Foreign Secretary @Ed_Miliband restating the Labour Party's support for a two-state solution. Peace in Israel-Palestine depends on an international coalition willing to preserve the rights of freedom, dignity and self-determination to Israelis and Palestinians alike.

NEW: For years, J Street argued that there had to be room in American Jewish life for a different kind of voice on Israel, one that can both support the country and be unafraid to criticize its leaders. Now, some of the people who helped shape the Jewish establishment are helping build that space with us. We’re honored to welcome them into our Jewish Community Advisory Council – and grateful to @JTAnews for telling the story of a changing American Jewish community. Read more: jta.org/2026/09/28/politics/…

Sign of the times. ✊ forward.com/fast-forward/852…

I was honored & proud to represent @jstreetdotorg at this important meeting of Israeli & Palestinian civil society leaders & diplomats. It’s time to move past the rhetoric of peace & get to implementation.

🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Thank you to @jnbarrot. For— again— leading among peers in diplo community re: integration and institutionalisation of Israeli/Palestinian civil society, with the packed meeting he convened at #UNGA this evening. Where candour, urgency and partnership were all on display

Amidst the escalating violence in WB and Gaza, we’re back at UNGA alongside ALLMEP Civil Society members to amplify their demands and ensure that the international community hears, receives, and acts on their commitments. 1/2

In English, French or Hebrew, @LeviSebast38934 is a sensemaker.

Scoop: J Street PAC spending $3M to defeat AIPAC-backed Republicans axios.com/2026/09/09/israel-…

I’ve long respected Rabbi Wittenberg. But only had proper meeting with him once, I think. In Jan 2009. When, if I recall rightly, he was fasting. For both Israeli *and* Palestinian victims of first Israel-Gaza War. His message below tracks entirely with that sort of leadership

Kudos to Brad Lander for focusing in this video on the fight for pluralistic, liberal democracy. It's a shame that those heckling and harassing him couldn't appreciate that focus, too. So, too, is it a shame that others have stepped forward to say that Lander somehow deserves this or had it coming because of his support for Palestinian rights. And it's particularly galling that some think that Lander, a liberal Zionist, deserved to be harassed because of how liberal he is... a position not so dissimilar to those who think he deserved it because of his Zionism.

This is exhausting. Brad Lander showed up to stand against Hindu nationalism and got heckled because he supports the existence of a Jewish state. We can spend the day talking ourselves in circles about this, or we can spend that energy fighting for Palestinian freedom and humanity for all. And meanwhile, the right will use moments like this as misguided “proof” that the left hates Jews. The people shouting down Brad might not be listening to us either, but it has to be said: We should all try to find the bigger picture here. We have a lot more important work to do.